Officers began their investigation into the 29-year-old, from Birchwood, in March last year and soon identified a network of drug couriers and safehouses across the town.

Described by Cheshire Police as an ‘extremely well organised team of criminals who would go to great lengths to conceal their criminality’, they plotted to supply large quantities of drugs in Warrington, Manchester, Carlisle, Darlington, Scunthorpe and Sussex.

Among the other gang members was 21-year-old Lewis Johnson – who controlled a gang safehouse from a house on Liverpool Road in Sankey Bridges.

Left; Jamie Oldroyd, and, right; Lewis Johnson

Paul Ferraiolo, ‘well known for close links with organised criminals in Merseyside’, sold a kilo of cocaine to Islam Grana on the car park of the Tavern pub in Widnes in April 2018 – with the latter then arrested in Halifax en route to driving the drugs to Middlesbrough.

Grana was acting under the instruction of Taulant Paja, owner of the car park where he worked in Birchwood.

Clockwise from left; Paul Ferraiolo, Islam Grana and Taulant Paja

Videos found on Grana’s mobile phone showed the pair and Oldroyd counting out around £150,000 in cash on the table of a house on Killingworth Drive in Gorse Covert.

A picture of a bag full of money found on Grana's phone

A property on Biggin Court in Padgate linked to the gang was then raided in July last year, with officers finding more than £125,000 of cocaine inside.

Drug paraphernalia found in the property on Biggin Court

And during the course of Operation Dreadnought, police became aware of Oldroyd’s links to Jamie Simpson – a cocaine trafficker who he was friends with and had worked alongside in the criminal underworld.

The 31-year-old, from Padgate, and three others – Clare Smith, Andrew Daniels and Dean Brettle – drove to Rochester in Kent in the early hours of Thursday, August 2 2018, and loaded 186kg of high purity cocaine that had been imported through the English Channel onto a Volkswagen Transporter van.

Detective chief inspector Mike Evans from Cheshire Police’s serious and organised crime unit said: “This operation has not only resulted in the largest haul of cocaine being seized in the history of Cheshire but also the largest national in land seizure.

Drugs seized during the operation on the M6

“We have wiped out two organised crime groups, preventing them as well as other gangs from gaining extreme profits – and in doing so have protected our communities along with vulnerable adults from criminals who bring with them intimidation, exploitation and violence.

“To transport such a colossal amount of cocaine, you have got to be a confident, arrogant and greedy individual – Simpson has proved that he is exactly that and this is what led him to believe he could bring illegal drugs into Cheshire without being disrupted.

Jamie Simpson being arrested on the M6

“Despite Oldroyd’s organised crime group going to great lengths to conceal their criminality and avoid being caught, we were always going to be one step ahead.

“Let this be a warning to other organised criminals out there – Cheshire is and always will be a very difficult place to operate.

“I want the public to be reassured that protecting our local communities by pursuing organised criminals will continue to be at the forefront of our priorities – we know there are local people in our community who are living in fear of these criminals and we're aware there are residents who know gangs are operating in their area.

“To those who engage in what they see as casual drug use or show apathy towards it, I would highlight the misery these groups bring to the streets of Cheshire in order to maintain their profit margins.

“I hope successful operations like these reassure the public that we do act on information you provide and by continuing to come forward you can help protect your community and disrupt serious and organised crime.”

The hidden compartments under the floor of the van

Another four defendants are to be sentenced in connection with the Oldroyd drugs gang at a later date.

Cheshire police and crime commissioner David Keane added: “This successful operation to take such a large quantity of drugs off our streets demonstrates the dedication of officers in protecting vulnerable people in our communities.

“I have no doubt that a seizure of this size will have saved many lives.

“I would encourage any Cheshire resident who has any concerns about this type of harmful activity in their community to come forward to police with any information they may have.

“This could make a real difference in removing serious crime from our communities to make Cheshire even safer.”

The 21 gang members and how long they were jailed for:

*All were defendants were convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine unless otherwise stated

Jamie Oldroyd, 29, of Rennie Drive in Latchford – 14 years and three months

Jamie Simpson, 31, of Delery Drive in Padgate – 11 years and six months

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